


Amber's Contest Story

by SingMeloetta



Series: My Contest Story [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Pokemon Contests
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-11-19 21:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11322204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingMeloetta/pseuds/SingMeloetta





	1. Amber and her Torchic

“Amber! I know you’re getting really excited, but please don’t make a mess of your room right before you leave!”

“Sorry, mom!” She knew she shouldn’t be in such a hurry to get out the door, especially not this early in the morning, but Amber had been waiting for this day ever since she had seen her first Pokemon Contest; She had been 5 years old at the time, and was starstruck by a coordinator with a Vulpix, her eyes having been glued to the small fox Pokemon as it twirled and danced through it’s own fire display.

Today, she would finally have the chance to get a Pokemon of her own, and start her very own team of Fire-types. Luckily for her, she didn’t have to wait another eon to get her hands on a starter; A family friend was in charge of breeding the Torchic for the starter program, and she had made sure to save one for Amber since the moment she decided which starter she had wanted. “Okay. I triple-checked to make sure that I have everything that I need. I think I’m finally ready to go.”

“Remember, if you’re ever feeling alone, you can always come back home or call me over the video phone. I’ll always have the time to talk to you.” 

“Thanks mom, love you!”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Now go get ‘em out there!”

As Amber took one last look at her family kitchen, she nearly missed a step as she rushed outside to a house across the dirt street from her own. It had a wooden enclosure in the backyard, which was home to about 50 or so Torchic, with new ones hatching all the time. “Amber! I see the day has finally come for you to get your hands on one of my Torchic.” The tall woman went outside and brought her Torchic in.

Amber couldn’t help but smile for a little bit as the small chicken wriggled around in Ms. Brandy’s arms. It’s small, shiny eyes would make it the perfect Pokemon for a cute contest. She could already see ribbon after ribbon in her future, and they hadn’t even started on their journey yet.

“This is actually the one. This is actually the Torchic I’ll be using as my very first partner! Thank you Miss Brandy, thank you so much!”

“You’re very welcome. But, you have to always remember to study every one of your resources carefully, Amber. That way, you can become the best of the best when it comes to your fire type dream team.” 

“Alright, I will! Thank you for the Torchic, Miss Brandy!” Though she hated to admit it, she had to lie to herself, as all she had with her to study over was a magazine article that she had torn from last month’s issue of Coordinator Monthly. To be fair though, she had read over that article so many times that she could now recite that article in her sleep.

As the door to Ms. Brandy’s house shut behind her, Amber began to sprint towards Fallarbor Town, with her Torchic bouncing lightly in her arms. Fallarbor had been the next town over (and of course it had a contest hall, which made it a stop on her map.)

Alright Torchic, it’s just another short walk away, and then you and I will be starring in our contest debut! Upon hearing the news from it’s new trainer, Torchic let out a chirp of delight. Seeing the neon orange walls of the contest hall, she made one last push to get to the hall.

Closed for renovations for the Fire Festival. We are sorry for the inconvenience, and be sure to come back soon! Next hall (east) Mauville City. 

Amber sighed, though she knew it had been too good to be true that her debut was only the next town over. She did have to wonder what this whole Fire Festival thing was about though, as it was beginning to spark her interest. (no pun intended) “Well, looks like we’re gonna have to make our way to Mauville, then.”

It took Amber a couple days to reach Mauville, of course, due to her travelling on foot, but she was more than thrilled when she spotted the city lights in front of her, as it had been like seeing an oasis at the end of her hike.


	2. Lisia, Madeline, and my Contest debut!

Amber found herself travelling in circles as she was attempting to locate the Mauville Contest Hall, though she was soon eye to eye with a beautifully decorated penthouse; bright little flowers were hanging on each side of the door, which looked elegant and dainty in of itself, with cute yellow fairy lights having been strung around the door frame. She stopped in wonder to look at the decor, soon having to shake herself out of a trance.

“Excuse me, but is that a Contest Pass in your bag?” Amber turned to face the girl who had spoken to her. She was about her age from what she could tell, but she looked very pretty, almost like a supermodel, with her long teal hair flowing straight behind her like a waterfall.

“Yeah, but I’m not very good. I only have my Torchic with me so far, and I haven’t even come up with our first routine.”

“Just because you have a small number of Pokemon with you doesn't decide whether or not you’re an amazing coordinator or not. After all, I’ve only just started training other Pokemon, and Ali and I have been performing in contests for years! Always remember, it’s quality over quantity that counts. And about the whole routine thing, sometimes it comes months in advance and sometimes you’ll find yourself making it up as you’re on stage. For the most dazzling routines, sometimes you just need to let it happen.”

“Thanks for the advice! My name is Amber, by the way. What’s your’s?”

“My name’s Lisia. It’s nice to meet you Amber!” 

“You-you’re Lisia? The Lisia? The amazing Top Coordinator with Ali the Altaria? What on Earth are you doing here?

“Visiting a friend. You see, an amazing top coordinator lives here, but she needs a lot of rest in between her performances. So, I come over here a lot on my offtime, because I always want to cheer her up!”

“Wow! You really are just as nice in person as you are on TV!”

“Thanks for the compliments! Y’know, Madeline is always looking for new coordinators to keep an eye on while she’s bedridden. I could introduce you, if you want.”

“Really? You actually think she’ll like me?” Amber panicked for a second, before remembering that she was in good hands, having Lisia by her side. But still her mind had to wonder about the personality of the sickly coordinator; Was she strict? Judgy? Condescending? 

“Of course! She always likes coordinators who are set on following their dreams!” Lisia put her key card into the door, which swung open automatically to reveal a brunette girl sitting on an elegant looking sofa. “Hey Mads! Brought you another coordinator today.”

The aforementioned coordinator sat up when she noticed the girl standing beside Lisia “Hm? I’ve never seen her before. Tell me, what’s your name?”

“Amber. And it’s no surprise you’ve never heard of me, I haven’t even had my debut yet. I’m supposed to perform here tomorrow though.”

“That sound’s like it’ll be exciting. I might go down there and watch it myself. So, do you have a costume picked out yet?”  
“No...I’m not even quite sure how I’m going to work this all out, to be honest.”

“You don’t have a costume yet? Never fear! There’s this really cute boutique downstairs that is absolutely amazing. They’ve got lots of cute styles matching all kinds of Pokemon.”

“Tor chi chi chic!” Torchic was pleased by this as it smiled and bobbled along, nodding it’s head toward the elevators.

“Lisia, do you mind if I go with you? I was thinking of doing some shopping for my next costume myself.” 

“The more the merrier!” With that, the trio rode the elevator down to the first floor and made their way into the boutique. 

The boutique was decorated like a fashionista’s paradise, the walls having multicolored sections, all of the costumes being separated by their recommended contest style, each of which had been loaded with outfits on several different layered racks. Her eyes beginning to sparkle with happiness and wonder, Amber began to pull outfits that caught her eye within thirty seconds of entering the shop, most of the outfits disregarding coordinating with Torchic. 

“In order to let the judges know you’re a professional, you’re going to want to try coordinating with your Pokemon.”

“Coordinating with my Pokemon. Got it!” Amber tried once more with that in mind, trying to sway the two coordinators with a yellow and orange tutu piece. Lisia clapped lightly in excitement, while Madeline gave her a thumbs up, signaling that they finally approved of her costume choice.

“So, Amber, what category are you going to enter for your debut?”

“I think I’m going to try out a Cute contest. But at the same time, when Torchic evolves, it evolves into Combusken, which has a super different appeal, right? So I haven’t really decided what category I’m going to specialize in.”

“Don’t worry! True Top Coordinators always try to balance out the categories on their contest team, ‘cause they never know what their next gig is gonna be like. Until you find out what you’ll be doing with Torchic though, you’re going to want to feed it Rainbow Pokeblocks. That way, it’ll raise all of it’s appeal points.”

“Wow, you guys are always so good with contest advice! Though, I guess that’s expected from the Top Coordinator duo who has their own TV show on this stuff. Alright, we’ve got my costume, some Pokeblock that came with the kit, I guess all that’s missing now is my actual routine. But where to practice?”

“Lots of the contest halls have practice rooms in the back. I’m pretty sure Mauville has them to, so we could go check there.”

“So it looks like I’ll finally be able to find the Contest Hall after all! I’ve been looking for it all day!”

“Are you sure you couldn’t find it? It’s right next door to here, after all.” Madeline spoke up, casting a glance at the newbie coordinator, who shrunk back in embarrassment.  
“I guess it was.” 

As the trio entered the pastel pink plaza, Amber’s eyes couldn’t help but widen in wonder. The last time she had seen the lobby was 6 years ago, and it had changed so much since then. “Alright, so this is the lobby. The registration desk is at the front, and at the top of the staircase, there are professional photos taken of the winners in the Master Rank from each category.” The glowsticks were changing colors around the frames, but she could make out a couple of the pictures; One, in a blue frame, was of an Altaria, while right next to it, in a pink frame was a Gardevoir. She smiled at the Gardevoir’s picture, wondering what that coordinator could’ve done to turn a Pokemon known for it’s beauty and stoicness into a Cute type.

“And right behind the desks are the changing rooms and practice rooms.” Amber peered inside the rooms with open windows, gazing gently at all the practicing duos, until they came to a room that was empty. “I think this one’s free!” Lisia smiled, not being able to hold back her obvious excitement for Amber’s routine plan. “So, what moves does your Torchic know?”

“Well, according to Ms. Brandy- the lady who gave me Torchic, it should know Sand Attack, Growl, Sunny Day, and Ember. What could I make out of that?”

“Arabian Phoenix.” Madeline said as she stared silently into the empty space.

“Arabian Phoenix?” Amber’s eyes prepared to widen again as she sat cross-legged on the hardwood floor. As Amber handed Torchic over to Madeline, she knew she was about to witness the work of one of the best in the field.

“Torchic will spin and use Sand Attack, then, after all the sand is in the air, use Ember.” “The embers will begin to sparkle with the sand.” 

“And there you have it, Amber, our combination pr-” Lisia was cut off as Madeline started to think again. 

“But still, maybe that wouldn’t fit after all… It does seem more like a Beauty appeal than a Cute appeal. Maybe you should try making something up yourself. You know your Pokemon better than I do, I would hope.”

“Is there anything else you’ll need to get set up for tomorrow?”

“I think-I think I should be ready, actually. Thank you so much for all your help. I hope I can stand on the same stage as you one day…. So, I guess my dream really is to become a top coordinator!”

As the two top coordinators left Amber to practice by herself, she used Madeline’s routine, realizing that she was right, in a way. The appeal had been too beautiful to fit in with the cute category, but still, coordinators seemed to experiment with new things all the time, from what she had watched on TV. Maybe, just maybe this routine would work out for her after all.

As the spotlights were quickly turned off, Amber couldn’t stop her legs from trembling. She had practiced and polished her routine a little, sure, but she couldn’t help but think of how many coordinators were here that had way more experience with the whole process than she did.

“Good afternoon folks, and welcome to a Mauville City Normal Rank Cute Contest! I’m honored to be your MC for this contest, Mr. Raoul Contesta! But enough about me, let’s start meeting our coordinators! First off, we have Fran and Furfrou, from Castelia City!” 

Amber watched intently as the Furfrou used Charm, following it up with Growl, which somehow made a strange combo which worked, but she couldn't quite grasp. The appeal wasn’t very magical, but she soon had to remember that most of the people here were hopefully in the same position as her; That is, they hadn’t been in the business for very long. 

“Are Amber and Torchic here? Amber and Torchic?” A stage manager called out into the crowed, and Amber stepped forward, giving the stage manager a wave. As she stepped into the wing of the stage, she tried to take deep breaths, though they ended up more shallow than she would’ve liked, but there was no more time before she noticed it.

“Our next pair, welcome contest newcomers Amber and Torchic!”

As Torchic strutted onto the stage, the crowd clapped and faked some smiles; It couldn’t be helped though, they didn’t know what to expect from a no-name coordinator Amber. Well, at least no one’s booing me off the stage or anything. Not yet, anyways.

“A-Alright Torchic, use Growl!” It was clear that Torchic had gotten psyched out by the sudden crowd of spectators, but it still wanted to try it’s best for Amber, letting out a shrill peep. Now, use Ember!” A ring of small flames were fired into the sky. “Quick, let’s use Sunny Day!” Amber smiled. Now I’m getting the hang of things. But, that was before the combination went awry- that is, the crowd just seemed to shrug it off, and the light was beginning to look blindingly bright from down on the stage. 

What? No, this can’t fail, it’s the only routine we have! Amber tensed after she had pushed back the newly-forming tears in her eyes, going on to command her Torchic to use Ember, Sand Attack, and then Growl, to close out the show.

“Now, let’s hear from our judges!” The hostess smiled out to the crowd, using her microphone-less hand to redirect the audience’s attention to the corner of the stage where the three judges sat. “Kiera, we’ll start with your opinion.”

“Well, I must say that was a very good debut! You may need to subdue your moves at the end of the appeal with the lighting and all, but over all, that was a very good performance, Amber!” 

The crowd applauded and cheered for a minute before their attention was turned to the next judge, a tall, sharply-dressed young man named Charles. “The performance did a very good job at displaying Torchic’s fire type. However, the centerpiece of your performance, the combo using Ember and Sunny Day, would’ve worked better in a Beauty-typed contest, if you ask me.”

Alright, last judge. You can do this, Amber.

“Our final judge today is Mauville’s very own Nurse Joy!” Amber had waited just a moment for the crowd to fit in some cheers and applause as the emcee announced the nurse’s name, but they didn’t. Little did she know that she was about to face Nurse Joy’s most brutal side; Being a contest judge.

“Amber. I must admit, that was a rather good performance. However, you looked much too nervous during the appeal round, as if though you lost track of what you were doing, and, as Charles had mentioned before, the attacks of your Torchic gave off too much light.”

Geez, who knew that a Pokemon nurse could be that brutal?

They had now all given their opinions of my performance, so I walked backstage, carrying Torchic in my arms. While it had only seemed like 30 seconds before I was on stage, watching the other competitors made it feel like a whole day had gone by before they announced the results. 

Even before that was to happen though, the backstage crew had us all file in a line so, just in case we had managed to place, they could usher us out to the stage quicker. 

“The judges have now finalized their results, and it’s time to announce the winner of this contest! In fourth place, we have Fran and Furfrou, from Castelia City! In third, it’s Luis and his Pikachu, the runners’ up are Chance and his Electrike and, finally, in first place, the winner of this Mauville City Ribbon is...Lucy and Illumise!”

Of course I didn’t even rank… I sighed, moping around while carrying Torchic and letting it swing from my fingers. Well, we can’t win ‘em all. And most of the judges did say that was really good for your first time! As she gave herself positive thoughts, her smile slowly began to reappear.

“All I have to do is prepare even better for the next time! Right here, right now, I’m gonna make it my goal to win the Fire Festival, and then, I’ll be accepted into the Grand Festival!”

“That’s the spirit, Amber!” Behind her, Lisia and Madeline were holding hands, both with smiles on their faces. “You did very well, Amber. I’m looking forward to seeing your growth as we travel together.”

“Travel together? But why would you want to-”  
“Amber.” Lisia walked over to her, putting a hand on her right shoulder. “Madeline and I were sitting in the crowd, and all we could talk about is that undeniable spark that you have in you-That’s the sparkle of a real top coordinator, you know. So, we decided that you’re going to be our next protege! So, will you pretty please with a cherry on top let us travel with you? Pretty please?” 

“Of course! What coordinators in the world would say no to the chance to travel with two very nice top coordinators?”

“Oh, you, stop it with the flattery. So, is it really a deal then?”

"Of course! Let's get going right away, I wanna see what comes next!"


End file.
